Load / Stress testing tools
Being a part of software industry for many years, I have came across multiple group of people having diverse thoughts. Being a QA I often share my experiences with fellow colleagues and friends. One important question whose answer is typically vague and not convincing to me is over the ‘LOAD / STRESS TESTING’.
Recently I was engaged in a project which requires load testing, so I shoot a message in my social and professional circle to know, if anyone can suggest and guide me over a good tool. I was little shocked to hear most of the replies that they have never performed a load testing activity. Okay I admit load testing can be expensive, but being an expert and experienced resource in the field and still have no knowledge is quite unpleasant for me (No offence to anyone).
So there I pull my socks up, grab a cup of tea and started little research over the top available load testing tools. Here I will be sharing my recommendations and experiences over the top load testing tools.
So first of all, let me try to brief the concept of automated stress testing. For this purpose we have to first get familiar with some terms like virtual user, an Agent, a Load generator, ramp up / down , Protocol, Correlations (for dynamic values)
HP LoadRunner
HP has always manufactured some really good software, This was the complete software fulfilling all my project needs, so LoadRunner tops my list. Although the software costing is expensive but if you really need correct results you should get hands on the trial. The recent version is 11.5.2. A lot of major changes have been done in the recent versions, which I figured out when working on 9.5 and then 11.5.
The software is divided in 4 components namely Launcher, Virtual user Generator, Controller, Load Generator and Analysis. Requirement(s) are recorded using the Vugen, a browser window is launched where user performs the required steps. A script is recorded for all actions user performs. The script is then passed to the Controller in which load generators parameters (No. of virtual users, execution type etc.) are set and finally after completion, the results are generated using the Analysis.
I will surely try to cover some details on using LoadRunner in my next post so stay tune!
IBM Rational Performance
Well I did not get a lot of time to explore IBM’s rich features. But the time I spend exploring it, I found it useful. The coolest feature of this software is, it can tell you the exact LOC if your code is deployed with the test development. So if your developer is curious in knowing if you can tell what exactly calling off application performance, this tool surely is recommended.
It uses the same approach of providing a recorder to record the business flow and then configure load on the application using the recorded scenario.
JMeter
An open source tool, its not like the record and play type. If you are strict with dead lines and you are not sure or does not have any hands on this software, than I would suggest not using it. While exploring I found it less user friendly or maybe I already worked on record and play feature in HP and IBM’s so I was hoping to see something same.
For JMeter you have to do little configurations, which are not that hard but requires some extra efforts.
Visual studio Web and Performance test (VSTS)
Yep thats right, we can do performance testing using visual studio. Also known as VSTS, introduced in 2005, but the real and major workings were enhanced in 2008, 2010 and now in 2012 version of visual studio team test and team studio editions. The time I put in exploring this software, more I felt that its main advantage is for the developers. They can write small tests and can test it right away. Well its just my own opinion.
A web test is created which records user steps in a browser and then the web test is passed to a load test. To optimize the web test, you are required to have little programming skills. Default number of virtual users are 250, that means a load of 250VU can be passed, if you need more load you have to buy additional license.
Load UI
A very interactive and easy to use open source tool, which engages the user to drag and drop the interfaces and then connect them with each other. Providing real time monitoring.
And there are a lot more available tools like Load Complete, WebLoad, keynote KITE etc. But there are limitations over number of virtual users, or the reports are not that extensive or the accuracy is doubtful or complexity is high etc. So these were some of top load testing tools. Hope you find them useful :)
Do share with me your precious views and suggestions. Keep rocking!! :)
Recently I was engaged in a project which requires load testing, so I shoot a message in my social and professional circle to know, if anyone can suggest and guide me over a good tool. I was little shocked to hear most of the replies that they have never performed a load testing activity. Okay I admit load testing can be expensive, but being an expert and experienced resource in the field and still have no knowledge is quite unpleasant for me (No offence to anyone).
So there I pull my socks up, grab a cup of tea and started little research over the top available load testing tools. Here I will be sharing my recommendations and experiences over the top load testing tools.
So first of all, let me try to brief the concept of automated stress testing. For this purpose we have to first get familiar with some terms like virtual user, an Agent, a Load generator, ramp up / down , Protocol, Correlations (for dynamic values)
HP LoadRunner
HP has always manufactured some really good software, This was the complete software fulfilling all my project needs, so LoadRunner tops my list. Although the software costing is expensive but if you really need correct results you should get hands on the trial. The recent version is 11.5.2. A lot of major changes have been done in the recent versions, which I figured out when working on 9.5 and then 11.5.
The software is divided in 4 components namely Launcher, Virtual user Generator, Controller, Load Generator and Analysis. Requirement(s) are recorded using the Vugen, a browser window is launched where user performs the required steps. A script is recorded for all actions user performs. The script is then passed to the Controller in which load generators parameters (No. of virtual users, execution type etc.) are set and finally after completion, the results are generated using the Analysis.
I will surely try to cover some details on using LoadRunner in my next post so stay tune!
IBM Rational Performance
Well I did not get a lot of time to explore IBM’s rich features. But the time I spend exploring it, I found it useful. The coolest feature of this software is, it can tell you the exact LOC if your code is deployed with the test development. So if your developer is curious in knowing if you can tell what exactly calling off application performance, this tool surely is recommended.
It uses the same approach of providing a recorder to record the business flow and then configure load on the application using the recorded scenario.
JMeter
An open source tool, its not like the record and play type. If you are strict with dead lines and you are not sure or does not have any hands on this software, than I would suggest not using it. While exploring I found it less user friendly or maybe I already worked on record and play feature in HP and IBM’s so I was hoping to see something same.
For JMeter you have to do little configurations, which are not that hard but requires some extra efforts.
Visual studio Web and Performance test (VSTS)
Yep thats right, we can do performance testing using visual studio. Also known as VSTS, introduced in 2005, but the real and major workings were enhanced in 2008, 2010 and now in 2012 version of visual studio team test and team studio editions. The time I put in exploring this software, more I felt that its main advantage is for the developers. They can write small tests and can test it right away. Well its just my own opinion.
A web test is created which records user steps in a browser and then the web test is passed to a load test. To optimize the web test, you are required to have little programming skills. Default number of virtual users are 250, that means a load of 250VU can be passed, if you need more load you have to buy additional license.
Load UI
A very interactive and easy to use open source tool, which engages the user to drag and drop the interfaces and then connect them with each other. Providing real time monitoring.
And there are a lot more available tools like Load Complete, WebLoad, keynote KITE etc. But there are limitations over number of virtual users, or the reports are not that extensive or the accuracy is doubtful or complexity is high etc. So these were some of top load testing tools. Hope you find them useful :)
Do share with me your precious views and suggestions. Keep rocking!! :)
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